A heartfelt, hilarious Scouse tale of love, loss, and loyalty.
Some plays make you laugh, some plays make you cry – Pass The Parcel does both, often within the same breath. Sarah Whitehead’s beautifully crafted play is a heartfelt, funny, and deeply moving exploration of family, loss, and the memories that shape us. As a Scouser, it felt like stepping into a living room I’d known my whole life.
The story follows three sisters – Lindsay, Kelly, and Mona – brought together after the passing of their mother, Lilly Gray. A mysterious game of “pass the parcel” stirs old memories, bringing long-buried tensions to the surface. As secrets unravel, the past reshapes their understanding of the present. The show doesn’t just focus on grief, it also captures the quirks and chaos of family dynamics with pitch-perfect humour and authenticity.
One of the production’s greatest strengths is its balance between emotion and comedy. There are moments that tug at the heartstrings, but these are quickly softened with a well-placed joke – often delivered by Pamela, who steals the show with a hysterical and larger-than-life performance. She feels like an amalgamation of every boisterous, warm-hearted person you’ve ever met at a family gathering and she isn’t afraid to say exactly what she’s thinking. The play cleverly blends nostalgia with modernity—one moment referencing Harold Bishop in Neighbours, the next seeing Pamela setting up an Instagram for the church and navigating questionable DMs.
The chemistry between the cast is effortless, making the sisters’ interactions feel organic and real. The way they bicker, reminisce, and occasionally gang up on each other feels so familiar. Though the cast consists of only four people, characters like Lindsay’s son and Father Tony, though unseen, feel just as present, making the world of the play feel full and lived in. However, their mother, Lilly, remains somewhat distant – I felt we didn’t get to know her as intimately as we do the sisters. With the play relying on flashbacks, I also felt there were occasional moments of confusion about which time period we were in.
The minimal set, four chairs, a table and a few props, is used ingeniously to transport us between different places in their lives: the hairdressers, Lilly’s living room, the church. I found myself unintentionally picturing these locations as familiar places from my own life, adding to the play’s immersive nature.
Mona, with her “Mystic Meg” charm, is another standout character, frequently providing comic relief alongside Pamela. She has a wildly varied CV (including a stint as Joanna Lumley’s cat walker) and adds a level of unpredictability that keeps the audience engaged.
The show does a brilliant job of capturing how people view family differently. Lindsay is deeply loyal to Liverpool, while Kelly moves to London and sees family as existing wherever she is. Mona, the wanderer, seems to lack a fixed home, with the closest thing being her local childhood Chinese takeaway – where she places the exact same order, no matter how much time has passed.For anyone with a connection to Liverpool, Pass The Parcel feels like home. The Scouse accent, familiar banter, and deeply rooted sense of humour provide a warmth that wraps around you like a big, familiar hug. However, it’s uncertain how well this would translate to non-Scouse audiences, as so much of its charm is tied to its regional identity. But this play isn’t just for Scousers—it’s for anyone who has ever lost someone, fought with a sibling, or laughed until they cried at a family story they’ve heard a hundred times before.